/ " ~ VOL. 83 NO. 42 DALLAS, PA. Phone 675-5211 FIFTEEN CENTS OEP Sends DAMA Check R. gSpencer Martin, chairman of the ig, Area Municipal Authority, led the disapproval vote for payment of $1931.94 in a change order for the D. C. Spinosa Construction Company at the regular monthly authority meeting last Thur- sday. Douglas Diehl, representing engineer from Roy Weston Environmental Engineers, read 15 change orders which are additional and final costs for the $11 million project. Solicitor Merton Jones objedaed to the fact that the construction company misinterpreted the specifications drawn up by the Weston firm and intended to fine the Authority for the error. According to Mr. Diehl, the specifications called for special pipe to be coated with an epoxy and Spinosa had been prepared to coat the regular type pipeline. A check for $22,661.00 was received from the Office of Emergency Preparedness as partial payment fee and estimated $30,214.00 in flood damages to the sewer system. Damage was due to flooding in the Back Mountain the Wednesday and Thursday before the fateful flood in the valley. Mr. Martin said that the Authority will begin resteration soon. : Do Packer, chief resident representa- tive from Weston on the Dallas project, submitted his resignation as of the end of October. Mr. Diehl attributed much of the success of the project to {ir. Packer and regretted his leaving the firm. ® last day to avoid the penalty payment of sewer rental bills will be Oct. 31. Solicitor Jones requested that Wiley Vieteh, Claude Street, Dallas, be reim- bursed for damage done to his dog run during right-of-way work and also requested that a lot located on the Lake Highway and owned by Jack Richardson be leveled. Mr. Richardson claims that he did not request that fill be dumped on the lot. The contractor not only filled in but neglected to level it off. Titus Arrests Construction Ssperintendent ‘William F. Kanasky, a superintendent of the Raymon R. Hedden Construction Co., was arrested Tuesday afternoon for violating the building code of Dallas Borough. Thy arrest was made by Dallas Borotigh Police Chief Raymond Titus, who discovered workmen at the site of a four-family apartment dwelling on Pramba Avenue where construction has been halted for lack of a building permit. Chief Titus reports that three previous warnings had been issued to workmen at the project site, as well as to Contractor Raymon Hedden, before the arrest was made. The multiple family housing unit has been the center of much controversy in recent weeks inasmuch as it is being con- structed without a building permit from the borough. At a meeting of borough cong! Oct. 17, Mr. Hedden was directed to discontinue work on the structure until council acts on his request for a variance to the community’s zoning code. Correction The head of the legal advertise- ment published in our October 19, 1972 issue which reads ‘‘Luzerne County Common Pleas Court Jurors List for the year 1972”, is incorrect and should be amended to read, “Luzerne County Common Pleas Court Jurors List for the year 1973. Dallas Council The early snowfall last week caught the Harveys Lake owner of this life preserver unaware. A garage-type structure on Lacka- ‘wanna Street which was called a “shanty’”’ by one angry neighbor and a “carport’’ by Dallas Borough Secretary Ralph Garris was ¢rdered forn down by Dallas Borough! Council at its monthly meeting Oct. 17. According to Mr. Garris, the structure was to have housed the borough’s loader and piles of cinders for winter road use. After suggesting that the structure may be in violation of the borough’s zoning code, Councilman Jerry Machell moved that the building be razed. Council unanimously concurred. Council also agreed to make known their objections to a policy of the Dallas Area Municipal Authority which provides for advance billing to its customers. ‘I just don’t think it’s right,” complained Councilman Harold Brobst. “I don’t get paid in advance for work I do and I don’t think the authority should get paid in advance either.’ Solicitor. Charles D. Lemmond Jr. agreed to look into the legality of both the pre-payment of bills and the penalty clause in the DAMA agreement. A letter from the State’s Insurance Department in Harrisburg requested that persons whose property was damaged by blasting during sewer construction and who have not received satisfaction from the contractor’s insurance company contact the Harrisburg department. Herbert S. Denenberg, Pennsylvania in- surance commissioner, is presently con- ducting an investigation of insurance companies which do not promptly con- sider claims presented to them. Two men and two women were arrest- ed late Sunday night when Kingston Township Police raided a trailer pad at Frances Slocum State Park where about 12 youths were found smoking mari- juana. Patrolman Bill Pugh, narcotics agent, arrested Daniel Bruce Watkins, 18, King- ston; Frank F. Bryne 2nd, 19, Wilkes- Barre; Debra Garrity, 21 Slocum Park; and Sharon Ann Healey, 22, Pittston, and charged them with violation of the Con- trolled Substance, Device and Drug Act. The police confiscated a large quantity a white powdery substance suspected to be heroin. Pipes and other paraphernalia were also taken. The alleged drugs were Cable TV by J. R. Freeman Cable television, an infant industry which has not yet begun to explore its possible social benefits to a burgeoning populace, is trying to step into a new era of communications that most people haven’t dreamed of. The one obstacle at this point is government, Coaxial cable, the small, slender, wire- like pipeline which makes cable tele- vision possible, and the six million American homes it now reaches, are des- tined to revolutionize segments of daily life as we know it, all the way from sitting in your living room to vote, to unclogging the nation’s airlanes, and cleaning the atmosphere from traffic smog. Tech- nology has been ready for such innova- tive techniques for more than 20 years. Eventually, the government barriers to sent to the State Police Crime Laboratory The Kingston Township Police, advised of the “party’’ by an unidentified source, obtained search warrants from Magis- trate Richard Adams of Kingston. Chief Paul Sabol, accompanied by about eight Back Mountain and State Police, entered the mobile home assigned to Miss Garrity by HUD, and searched all those present. Only four were found to be in possession of the alleged illegal substances. The youths were arraigned Monday at the Swoyersville office of Magistrate Stephen R. Stephanides where they were released on $2000 bail. A hearing before Magistrate Leonard Harvey was set for a later date. these CATV (Community Antenna Tele- vision) possibilities are expected to fall, broadcasting companies who are respon- sible for the government regulations that hold back most CATV facilities from moving forward in the first place. The several CATV firms operating in Northeastern Pennsylvania are partic- ularly slow to move forward, partly be- cause of government obstacles. While the Federal Communications Commission is just beginning to get in- volved with cable, it will probably end up giving better breaks to CATV than it has to the much-older sister, broadcasting. The reason is simple—the FCC is disappointed over commercial television’s failure to provide better and more diverse programs and opinions. Noting that Halloween vandalism has begun early this year, Police Com- received permission to add several part- time police to the borough’s force. The special police will patrol the borough in hope of averting ‘‘seasonal pranks,’ said Mr. Newberry. A petition for a variance in the borough’s zoning code was received from Contractor Raymon R. Hedden by way of (continued on PAGE THREE) Pills, Needles Bought Near Grade School If there was even any doubt that parents must be eternally vigilant where the welfare of their children is concerned, that doubt was dispelled Monday morn- ing when Dallas Police Chief Ray Titus dropped by the Dallas Post with the goods from his latest drug “find.” Nestled in a clear plastic bag were 200 yellow pills which looked for all the world like tiny candies. And in Chief Titus’ other hand were four new disposable hypodermic needles. “These were turned into us recently by a young Dallas resident,” Chief Titus said. “He bought all of this stuff—both pills and needles—for $7 from a man driving a white Corvair with Massachu- setts license plates.’”’ The Corvair has been spotted a second time by police. The chief continued: ‘‘I think the really scarey thing is that the sale was made within 50 yards of the Dallas Borough Elementary School.” Although he’s presently waiting for the results of a complete analysis from the State Police, Chief Titus notes that a neighborhood druggest has taken several of the pills apart and has confirmed that they ‘‘definitely contain some sort of dope.” This week, Chief Titus expects to begin a series of talks on the hazards of drug- taking to alias Borough school children. In the course of these discussions, he will warn the youngsters about accepting “candy’’ or any other item from strangers—and admonish them to report any person who approaches them to the police. The FCC hopes that CATV will do that. And that’s probably why CATV is buck- ing for more FCC control, rather than less, like most business ventures under agency control. It would seem that the members of the FCC will eventually see their dreams come true. Most observers of the FCC insist that under chairman Dean Burch, appointed by President Nixon in 1970, the agency is about to permit CATV to expand. One of FCC’s first steps, staff members say, will be to reject the idea that cable TV consti- tutes ‘‘unfair competition’ to over-the- air broadcasters, particularly to fin- ancially pressed UHF stations such as those in this region. A new CATV policy will likely permit distant TV signals to be piped into major metropolitan areas freely, again reversing a five-year ban which was only partially lifted earlier this year, and giving smaller cable com- panies a boost, if they will only muster the guts to take advantage. As one in- dustry insider recently commented, “cable TV can and must remedy over- the-air broadcasters’ errors. And it can do so without the need for mass audiences because the cable operator isn’t worried about the advertisers but about the sub- scriber.” This situation has been a constant bone of contention with cable operators for a long time. Often when operators have asked local officials for franchises, they have included future plans for local pro- (continued on PAGE EIGHTEEN)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers